1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine control unit which is provided in, for instance, a moving object such as a ship. More specifically, the present invention relates to an engine control unit supporting an antitheft system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional antitheft apparatus, a receiver (immobilizer control unit) compares a key ID transmitted from a portable device with an authentication-purpose key ID which has been previously stored in the receiver, and when the transmitted key ID matches the stored authentication-purpose key ID, outputs a start permission signal of an engine to an engine control unit (ECU). Besides, the engine control unit controls start of the engines in response to the start permission signal (for instance, refer to JP 2004-351987 A).
However, the conventional technology has the following problems.
The engine control unit disclosed in JP 2004-351987 A is operable only for systems having an antitheft function. In other words, systems equipped with an antitheft function and other systems having no antitheft function are different from each other in configuration of engine control units, and dedicated programs and data are present in the respective engine control units.
As a consequence, in a case where the antitheft function is required, it is required to employ an engine control unit properly adapted to the system having the antitheft function. When an antitheft function is added to a system which has no such an antitheft function, the engine control unit itself needs to be replaced by another engine control unit. Otherwise, a program of the engine control unit must be changed.
As a result, there is a problem that the antitheft function cannot be easily mounted after the engine control unit is assembled.